Frightened Rabbit returned to the fore in 2010 with the release of ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks‘ and bagged themselves spots not only on our full site top album breakdown but several writers’ lists (which will be published soon).
Here is why Cougar scribe Ruby deemed it worthy of a spot:
After the warm reception of ‘The Greys’ and ‘Midnight Organ Fight’ the pressure may have been on to pull yet another Frightened Rabbit out the hat. And it is with great satisfaction that I can reveal that those scruffy haired Scots did the rabbit and the hat trick with their latest offering.
‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ also saw a step away from subdued shadows of their former albums and generally provided us with a more brash and attention grabbing sound. The band have added more heart, more guts and more build than ever seen before.
Fan’s shouldn’t be disappointed as there are still plenty of nods to their staple sound; somehow FR manage to straddle the thin line between hope and horror. Yet despite this there is a notably richer and more radiant sound suggesting that things are looking a lot less miserable now for the likely lads whose efforts this year have handed them a place in my personal list.
Ruby
When we reviewed the album back in April Kenny suggested that “what sets ‘The Winter of Mixed Drinks’ apart from previous Frightened Rabbit albums is a sense of heightened focus“. In his year-end list, he added:
I’m a big fan of Frightened Rabbit‘s previous albums but their 2010 offering is a different beast. This is a brilliantly crafted and contemplative album filled with great instrumentation. It is mature yet exhilerating; epic yet subtle. When I heard it — even early in the year — I knew it would be on this list.
Kenny
